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With the 6th German Mechanical Engineering Summit taking place in Berlin on 23rd and 24th October, we take the opportunity to profile one of Germany's most innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. Huber is a family business that develops high precision thermoregulation and has created a unique approach to implementing ideas efficiently and fast.
Residents of Emden, a town on the North Sea, can still remember the days when the unemployment rate here hovered around 14 percent. Today it's just 6 percent. The seaport's fortunes have risen thanks mainly to off-shore wind farming. But now the town is once again facing strong headwinds as two key businesses linked to the industry are in trouble.
One -- the Nordseewerke -- has been forced to declare bankruptcy. Made in Germany looks at the hopes and fears of the people of Emden.
Robert MacKenzie thought it was a shame that so many good business ideas failed for lack of financing. So he set up the crowd-funding platform Innovestment. Here private individuals can invest in start-ups, allowing them to raise funds of up to 100-thousand euros. This crowd-funding gives fledgling businesses the ability to acquire capital without having to apply for a bank loan.
Huber Kältemaschinenbau is a company from Offenburg which specializes in high precision thermoregulation technology. It's repeatedly been ranked among the 100 most innovative enterprises in Germany. The firm has developed a very special corporate culture which allows it to turn ideas into new products quickly and effectively.
A communicative atmosphere and lack of bureaucracy promote innovation -- helping Huber remain the technology leader in its field.
Dr. Eberhard Veit, Chairman of the Board of automation technology firm Festo, will be in the studio to answer this and other questions.
Swabian company Eberspächer is a family-owned business now in its fifth generation. Today it supplies the auto industry with everything from bumpers to catalytic converters and car heaters. In 2011, Eberspächer boasted a turnover of more than 2.5 Billion euros -- around a third more than in the previous year.
